BACKGROUND Simultaneous pancreas-kidney (SPK) transplantation is the treatment of choice for selected diabetic patients. Corticosteroids are an important element of immunosuppressive protocols, but their long-term use has detrimental effects on patients' health, necessitating eventual discontinuation. METHODS This prospective study evaluated the safety and feasibility of corticosteroid withdr...

Corticosteroid insensitivity represents a major barrier to the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and severe asthma. It is caused by oxidative stress, leading to reduced histone deacetylase-2 (HDAC2) function through activation of phosphoinositide-3-kinase-δ (PI3Kδ). The tricyclic antidepressant nortriptyline has been identified in high-throughput screens as an agent that...

Chronic use of corticosteroid is the most common secondary cause of osteoporosis. Contrary to previous belief apart from the primary or the idiopathic type, it occurs in all racial groups, both genders, and at any age. In a large cross sectional study in which 229 corticosteroid users (mean age 61 years, ≥6 months of prednisone, ≥5 mg/day) were compared with 286 controls not taking corticostero...

Antecedent increases of corticosteroids can blunt counterregulatory responses to subsequent stress. Our aim was to determine whether prior activation of type I corticosteroid (mineralocorticoid) or type II corticosteroid (glucocorticoid) receptors blunts counterregulatory responses to subsequent hypoglycemia. Healthy volunteers participated in five randomized 2-day protocols. Day 1 involved mor...

Corticosteroid hormones are critical for controlling metabolism, hydromineral balance, and the stress response in vertebrates. Although corticosteroid hormones have been well characterized in most vertebrate groups, the identity of the earliest vertebrate corticosteroid hormone has remained elusive. Here we provide evidence that 11-deoxycortisol is the corticosteroid hormone in the lamprey, a m...

PROSPECTIVE TRIAL COMPARING TOPICAL STEROID APPLICATION TO WET VERSUS DRY SKIN IN CHILDREN WITH ATOPIC DERMATITIS. Lucinda S. Liu, Yanna Kang, and Richard J. Antaya. Department of Dermatology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT. The aim of this study was to determine whether “soak and smear,” a technique where hydration via a 10-minute soak in lukewarm plain water followed by top...

Corticosteroid insensitivity represents a major barrier to the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and severe asthma. It is caused by oxidative stress, leading to reduced histone deacetylase-2 (HDAC2) function through activation of phosphoinositide-3-kinase(PI3K ). The tricyclic antidepressant nortriptyline has been identified in high-throughput screens as an agent that in...

Central serous chorioretinopathy (CSCR) is an idiopathic ocular condition - first described in 1866 - that is well known to ophthalmologists. It is less well known to other practitioners. Glucocorticoids have been strongly implicated as a pathogenic factor. We report three patients who developed CSCR following exogenous administration of corticosteroid. Because our patients did not suspect the ...

The adrenocortical response to major surgery was assessed by the measurement of plasma corticosteroid concentrations in patients receiving either a general anaesthetic alone or in combination with an epidural block. The expected increase in plasma corticosteroid concentration seen in the general anaesthesia group was significantly inhibited by epidural block. The inhibition was related to the d...

OBJECTIVE To examine associations between serum macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) and disease-related variables and corticosteroid use in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). METHODS Serum MIF concentration was measured by ELISA in 90 female patients with SLE and 279 healthy controls. Univariate and multivariate regression analyses were used to examine the associations...